Faithful Followers

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

That's right! Clay had a good day at school today. Maybe it was the promise of M&Ms. Perhaps it was the 48,000 reminders I gave him this morning. Or, more likely, it was a fluke. We'll see how he does the rest of the week.

In related news, he was bored before dinner, so while I was out running errands, he decided to go for a bike ride by himself without telling anyone. Yeah. My FIVE year old. After we all spread out and searched high and low and came darn close to calling the police (not to mention the fact he took another 5 years off my life!), Jackson found him several blocks away playing with some kid he found. Just great, huh?

23 comments:

The worst fear a parent can feel is when your child "escapes" your sight and you have those moments of not knowing where they are. No matter how hard you try to keep eye contact or feel your child is safe "inside" the house, it can happen. It has happened to me. Worst feeling in the world and such a relief when you find them. So happy he was safe. Glad he had a good day at school. My Jeremy is in K this year...my last one...and he is very much like your Clay. So good luck from one mom to another.

Are you sure it isn't N for Nathan? He sounds exactly like my baby brother, who is now married and has a little girl of his own. So my mom did survive somehow, although sometimes I'm sure it was just barely! :)

Joshua, my six year old, did that to me and Gene(DH) yesterday at the school football field! We were there for my 9 yr old son's Little Gridders practice and he just grabbed some other kids bike and took off on the sidewalk. We had a small search party going along with Gene and another friend driving around in their cars looking for him. Little stinker! He drove up on the bike just as Gene was calling to tell me he had others looking for him also.

You know they do say that boys take 5 yrs off of their mother's life right off the start. Maybe this is why. Oy!

My brother would do the same thing. LOL - he also is the one that would draw "gold stars" on his forehead. Since that's the only way he would get any. I won't tell you about his teen years, but he (and my mom!) survived, and he is an upstanding citizen, and contributor to the community. :) Somehow, things worked out alright in the end. There is hope for Clay's future!

I was talking to my 16 yo son last night about your son. My son was very "disruptive" in his younger years at school. He said the reason he acted up wasn't that he was bored (although he is very smart) - it was simply that it was more fun to do that stuff than just sit there and behave! He's a pretty good student now, but we had some rough years! Hang it there!

I too have one is driving me to drink. My six yr old last week climbed up on top of the monkey bars (over 6 feet off the ground), stood up, yelled watch me and jumped off to the ground. Accckkkk!!! I am NOT going to make it!

Dawn,You are crackin' me up! It is so funny how mothers of boys (especially multiple boys!) have similar stories . . .Glad to hear that mine aren't the only ones to hit girls (my husband would say, "I bet the next time he tells her to stop she will stop!") & I'm feeling more secure in my parenting to hear that my kids (3 & 4 aren't the only ones to take off without telling someone & managed to make it a good distance before they were found. BTW, mine seem to do it when my FIL is here - never fails - if Paw Paw is coming over they are suddenly MIA. BoYs!!!Thanks for a good laugh!

I know that feeling. My youngest (age 7, surprised he's lived that long), is always wandering, or taking off somewhere on his own. We lose him constantly, both at home and anywhere we happen to go. He's already done it to his teacher this school year (left the classroom without telling anyone, and folks had to search for him).

My 2 year old son followed me to the mailbox one day. I thought he was sleeping. I found him 2 doors down sitting on the sidewalk in nothing but a diaper. Apparently he stripped his way down the street. He drives me to drink as well.

It's so wonderful to hear these stories. I hope the people who constantly blame "bad parenting" on the behavior of kids like this are reading your blog. You clearly are a terrific parent, who just happens to have an innately challenging child (whom I personally think is a creative GENIUS!*) It's like I say about my boy, so unlike my perfectly behaved daughter: "You love the child you're given, and do the best you can."

* Does your school have an Odyssey of the Mind or DestinationImagination program? Both are organizations that sponsor creative thinking competitions for kids K-College age, and I think Clayton would be a brilliant addition to any team. He is truly an out-of-the-box thinker! Too bad we don't live in the same school district; I'd love to have him on my team! :-)

I know someone will probably think they should call DHS on you but I swear my neighbor's 2 year old is just like your Clayton. I can personally vouch for the fact that sometimes great, fabulous parents have a kid with his own agenda and there is NOTHING you can do. My neighbor is taking the "teach him street smarts" approach, rather than pretending he can't escape a locked house.

I must be addicted to Facebook because whenever I read one of your posts (especially the Clay posts) I want to click the "Like" button! I seriously think you've got some good material here with Clay's school year!

For me it's a real toss up between who's going to drive me to heavy drinking. Either it's the 4 year old boy who has bumps and bruises and likes to fall down and bump his head a lot, since he started to walk, or it's the 13 year old girl who is into making STUPID mistakes lately. You don't want to know about this last week, really you don't. :-(

I know exactly how you feel - at the age of 3, she apparently let herself out. Grandma and I searched high and low throughout the house. She wasn't there. I ran outside, frantically calling her name. Four houses down, I heard her say in a very disgusted voice, "I'm right here. What do you want?" She was sitting in the neighbor's yard, picking dandelions. Then, at the age of 4, my daughter rode her big wheel 4 blocks to a very busy road because she wanted to go to the park. By herself. She had to cross 3 streets to get there. Eventually, she turned around and came back home, angry because "no one would stop and let me cross the street." She's now 17; a very responsible, independent young woman. There is a hope for Clay!